The Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah has microfilmed records of the St Peter and Paul Catholic Church (1951-1965) which are housed in the Archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, Idaho, and copies of these records can be viewed at the Library in Salt Lake City or in any of its Family History Centers.

The Nez Perce Indians and their ponies roamed the grasslands and the women gathered the bulbs of the blue camas which formed a vital and major portion of the Nez Perce diet. The Indians were pushed back into the breaks, away from the fertile land and sustaining camas roots with the plowing and fencing of the prairie.

Lewis and Clark first crossed into Idaho over the Lolo Trail, in 1805. Not until 1850’s and 60’s did the miners, trappers and settlers settle the remote area.

The property owned by Mr. Cook was donated for the building of the Grange Hall in 1876. This building served as the nucleus of social life and eventual development.

The Nez Perce Indians brought down their wrath upon the white intruders, attacking their settlements in 1877. Grange Hall was stockade with sixteen foot logs and sacks of flour from the nearby mill. The battle of White Bird evolved many volunteers from Grangeville, but the village of Grangeville apparently escaped the direct attack. With surrender of Chief Joseph in Montana in 1878, the Nez Perce War came to an end and life in the town settled down to the serious pursuits of education and business.